Cupping-glass with electrical attachment



(No Model.)

F.THOMAS. I GUPPING GLASS WITH ELECTRICAL ATTACHMENT.

No. 474,977 Patented-May 17, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS THOMAS, OFSA N FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CUPPING-GLASS WITH ELECTRICAL ATTACHMENT;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,977, dated May 17, 1892.

Application filed September 3, 1891. Serial No. 405,222. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgicallnstruments; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the external treatment of local diseases by cupping and by electrization; and it consists of an instrument whereby one may secure and, if desired, subject himself to the combined action and influence of the cuppinglass and the galvanic battery.

The object of myimprovements is to facilitate the joint application of the two modes of treatment above named.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my improved cuppingglass and electrical connections. Fig. 2 is a plan of a holder shown at the lower part of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof an airpump specially adapted for use in connection with the cupping-glass, and Fig. 4 is a top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts in the four views.

Arepresents a cup,which is preferably made of glass, with a metallic rim B and a metallic tip B cemented thereto. This cup is elongated in form, somewhat like the body of asyringe. C is a nipple communicating with the interior of the cup and provided with a stop-cock 0. These parts constitute the cupping-glass proper.

To produce the necessary vacu um in the cup and cause that part of the skin to which it may be applied to swell into it, I use an air-pump D, which I connect by means of a rubber tube E to the nipple O. This pump is hung on trunnions Fwithin a frame G,and is adapted to' swing at right angles and together with a working beam H, which is mounted upon a shaft I at the upper end of the frame G, and to which the plunger d of the pump is secured. The plunger is brought down through the medium of a treadle or pedal J, connected to one end of the beam, and is returned by springs K, secured to the other end thereof. A table or platform L is 1 usually provided for the pump and its actuating mechanism.

M M are insulated flexible Wires connect- 6o ing an electric or galvanic battery (not shown) with posts m m on the ends of the cup and adapted to transmit an electric current to the metallic partsthat is, the rim B and tip B' and through the medium of a wire M aplate N, and a spiral spring 0 to asecond plate P, located in the fore part of the cup and covered with'a moist sponge Q. This sponge comes in contact with the diseased part of the body which it is desired to treat, and through it is effected the electrolysis while the cupping is taking place.

Below the rim B and beyond the larger end of the cup, Fig. 1, is a concave disk or plate R, formed of a segment of a hollow sphere. This plate is used for holding and electrifying the scrotum when treating the lower parts of the body, but then only. By preference the disk R is made of brass. It is held in position by a flat handle 7', adapted to pass through a suitable slit and longitudinally adjustable in a supporting-block S, glued on or otherwise secured to the body of the cuppingglass. A wire M transmits the current from the battery to the handle and disk. 8

The operation is obvious and as follows: The large open end of the cup being applied to theskin in the neighborhood of the tumor or part to be healed, the surgeon or, if preferred, the patient himself bears upon the treadle or pedal and works the air-pump until a partial vacuum has been produced Within the glass and the skin fairly bulges therein. This causes the blood to rush into the subcutaneous tissues under the swelled skin, and conse- 5 quently withdraws it from the inflamed part.

It is then time to turn on the electric current, which is derived in the usual way from abattery close at hand and is conveyed directly to the affected region through the central elec- I00 trode, the other electrodes serving for the electrization of other parts of the body more or less intimately connected with the cupped part. Thus I make it possible for a patient ment therefore produces results which could not well be accomplished by other means,and in this respect represents an advance both in thescien'ce of'surgeryand that of-electro-thera- 1 peutics. Without confining myself to the exact forms and precise details "of construction here-in shown and described, What I claim as new,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A surgical instrument consisting of a cupping device having means to electrif y the parts to which it is applied, substantially as set forth.

2. In -'a surgical instrument, the combinat-ion of a cupping-glass provided with a metallic rim and means to convey an electric current to said rim, substantially as set forth.

3. In a surgical instrument, the combination of a cupping-glass, a spring therein, said spring terminating by an electrode, and means to convey an electric current therethrough,

substantially as set forth.

4. In a surgical instrument, the combination of a cupping-glass, a slitted block thereunder, a concave disk, said disk provided with a handle held by and longitudinally adj ustable in said block, and means to convey an electric current to said handle and disk, substantially as set forth.

5. A surgical instrument composed of a syrin ge-like cuppingdevice and means to charge said device with electricity, substantially as l set forth.

6. Asurgical instrumentcom-p'osed of acupping device and means for the application of electricity in connection with a partial vacj uum, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS THOMAS. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

R. R. STRAIN, A. M. .WENTWORTH. 

